Extended family members Cristina Calderon, far right, Alissa Fortune, back middle, Laura Stone, back middle right, Lisa Calderon, back right, and in foreground Pat Barry , left front, and Analisa Calderon enjoy a dinner at Meritage before heading to the Ordway for the Sound of Music on December 28, 2007 in downtown St. Paul. Meritage off St. Peter has been open for two months with a great window views around Landmark Center(Sherri LaRose-Chiglo, Pioneer Press)

A bottle of wine is served as part of dinner at Meritage in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, January 18, 2008.
(Ben Garvin, Pioneer Press)

The Hudson, Wis., outdoors writer understands that restaurants can be noisy sometimes. But there was one recent dining experience, at a popular downtown St. Paul restaurant, that left him stunned and vowing never to return.

“The noise was outrageous,” Yurk said. “They had the music up so loud that we couldn’t talk to each other at all. The only time you could hear someone was is if they yelled at you. It was absolute chaos.”

Yurk, 64, isn’t alone in losing his appetite because of the increasingly raucous nature of some restaurants.

And experts and restaurateurs say design trends — open spaces and high ceilings are in, noise-absorbing tablecloths and carpeting are out — will continue to pose acoustic challenges for years to come.

RECYCLED DENIM AND T-SHIRTS

Hard surfaces are efficient sound transmitters, and wide-open spaces contribute to cacophony, so restaurants with tile floors, big windows and high, industrial ceilings are at the most risk for excessive noise. Unfortunately for diners who prefer things on the quiet side, those are all big design trends right now.

Minneapolis-based firm Shea has designed many of high-profile restaurants, including Union in downtown Minneapolis and the new Boneyard in Uptown.

She said restaurateurs, especially in the popular “upscale casual” niche, want a certain amount of “buzz” and achieve that with some known noise-makers.

“There are many factors,” Kuechenmeister said. “A kitchen-forward focus. An exposed kitchen leads to the diner hearing more of what’s going on in there. Other trends are reclaimed wood, tile everywhere. That makes it challenging to bring the decibel levels down. Exposed ceilings — it’s cool to show off everything, but having acoustical panels (to absorb noise) is a little more challenging then.”

Still, there are ways to absorb the noise, even in the most trendy, industrial setting.

For instance, at the bustling Burch Steakhouse and Pizza Bar in Uptown, owner Isaac Becker was combating off-the-charts noise levels due to the eatery’s industrial design. Becker did not respond to the Pioneer Press attempts to contact him about the issue, but a quick poll of social media showed that diners who ate at Burch when it first opened weren’t eager to return because of the noise.

Recently, though, Shea was hired to help, and designers added cotton batting on top of acoustical tiles and “just tried to find as many places as possible to dampen the sound,” Kuechenmeister said.

A recent noise reading at Burch came in at 86 decibels on a packed Friday night, which isn’t quiet by any means, but is in the acceptable range for most diners.

Shea is still working with elder statesman restaurant the St. Paul Grill, which can be very noisy (90 decibels or more) on a busy night.

“They were combating calls on Twitter to reduce the noise,” Kuechenmeister said. “They’re adding things but it’s a tough space because they have (flat) ceilings.”

HIGH ENERGY VERSUS CONVERSATION

Noise can be considered a nuisance or contribute to a restaurant’s cool factor, depending on the diners’ point of view.

Some restaurateurs prefer a boisterous restaurant, saying the noise contributes to the high-energy atmosphere. Others are interested in keeping things on the quieter side to facilitate conversation.

“Fundamentally, restaurants are a place to gather with friends, family or business associates to socialize and share a meal,” said Russell Klein, owner of Meritage in St. Paul. “Conversation is a fundamental part of eating out.

Klein, who is in the midst of opening new restaurant Brasserie Zentral in the historic Soo Line Building in downtown Minneapolis, said the potential noise level is a major concern.

“One of the first things we told the architect was that we want a restaurant where you can have a conversation,” Klein said.

On the other hand, Tim Niver, co-owner of the Strip Club Meat and Fish and the upcoming Saint Dinette in St. Paul, said that although noise is something he considers, he likes his place to be on the noisy side.

“Philosophically, I want this to be a noisy, raucous, just-comfortable-enough place,” Niver said. “I don’t need it to be dim and quiet and hushed. The cacophony adds to the rush, adds to the ambience.”

He says this, even as he’s dealing with permanent hearing damage, probably from working in the noise.

“I have tinitis,” he said. “My ears pretty much ring all the time.”

Peggy Nelson, professor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the University of Minnesota, isn’t surprised.

The Strip Club measured at 95 decibels on a busy Friday night, and Nelson said 90 decibels is “approaching the level where I would be concerned about being in there for several hours a night.”

WILL YOU STILL FEED ME

But flat surfaces and high ceilings aren’t the only factors contributing to how well diners can hear their tablemates at a restaurant.

The older people get, audiologists say, the harder it is for them to tolerate background noise.

“As we age, we can’t separate one thing out from the background as well as we used to,” Nelson said. “We’re not sure why that is, but it’s a very widespread phenomenon.”

Hearing aids don’t help the situation, either, Nelson said.

“They’re basically just a microphone in your ear that still picks up everything,” she said.

And that may be why not a lot of elderly folks are seen dining at the hot new restaurants. They might love the food, but they can’t hear the waiter.

Though Niver says he has no intention of scaring older people away, he says he won’t apologize for his love of loud.

Jess Fleming has been with the Pioneer Press since 1999, and has been covering the Eat beat since 2012. She is an adventurous eater, cook and gardener, but will only grow something she can eat. She is a graduate of the journalism school at the University of Minnesota and a native of Eastern Wisconsin, where she grew up eating good brats, good cheese and fresh vegetables from her dad’s garden.

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